Open Your Eyes
by C.L.Winters
Summary: A mix of own characters & established characters, including Adrian & Dimitri, following the story of Adrian's first love... Well, the first girl he had to work hard to get. In need of reviews so give it a go : R&R :
1. Chapter 1

I disclaim. I own Evie, Erin, and a few other minor character. Adrian, Dimitri, Alberta etc belong to Richelle Mead.

Basically, this is the story of our favorite Spirit-users first love. Or should I say, the first girl that he really had to work hard to get... Some of the ages may be a little off - I know that, in Rose's stories, Adrian's around 21 and Dimitri's 24 - but I had to make a few minor changes so it would all fit.

Hope you enjoy it, this is my first EVER fan-fic, please Read & Review :)

**Open Your Eyes**

**Chapter One: You Can't Always Get What You Want**

It was that same old nightmare again.

A montage of repressed memories forced their way to the front of my mind, repeating on what felt like a never-ending loop: a dark hallway and a flash of fangs, the scent of blood thick on the air, and then screams and sobs. My screams and sobs.

Some part of me knew that it was just a dream. So what if it had been real once-upon-a-time? That was then, this was now. But still… it felt so _real_, like I was living through it all over again. And I couldn't live through that again. I just couldn't.

* * *

"Hey, Evie, wait up!"

That was me, Evie. Well, Evelyn, but I hated Evelyn. Like, _really_ hated it. I remembered the last time somebody had actually called me Evelyn to my face; it had been my mother and that had been two years ago. Nowadays, I went by Evie, and Evie only.

Turning on the spot, I came face-to-face with my best guy friend, Dimitri Belikov. Like me, he was another novice and as he drew up in front of me, he grinned, a grin that was as warm as it was infectious.

"Hey there, smiley," I laughed, nudging him with my elbow as we headed towards the dining hall. "Did you get extra homework assigned again or something? Because I haven't seen you this happy since the last time that happened."

Dimitri laughed and nudged me back. "I wish you'd stop going on about that. It was one time." I gave him a pointed look, eyebrows raised. "Okay, okay, two times," he relented.

Now _that_ was more like it. As well as requesting extra homework when he felt that our teachers weren't testing us enough, Dimitri was the kind of guy who was the first person out on the running field in the morning and the last person studying in the library at night. But, hey, that worked for him and I knew that someday his dedication would save life's.

"So, come on, what's with the smile?" I asked.

Dimitri raised an eyebrow. "You seriously need to ask?"

"I haven't had my coffee yet. You know I can't function until I've had my caffeine fix."

"You'll have to break your dependency on coffee one day, you know," he told me serenely before saying, "Field experience." And, as soon as those two words left his mouth, I knew why he was so happy.

Field experience was basically six weeks' worth of hands-on experience for the senior novices, which included me and Dimitri. Classes would be cancelled and we'd each be assigned a Moroi student to protect while the adult guardians tested us by staging Strigoi attacks. Even though I knew it was going to be tough, I was determined to prove that I'd make a kick-ass guardian, and judging from the look on Dimitri's face, I knew he was eager to prove himself, too.

"I can't believe that you actually forgot about field experience," Dimitri said, his voice full of mock-condemnation.

I smiled and shook my head. "I know, I'm the worst Dhampir in the world. But" – I lowered my voice – "I've had things on my mind, you know?"

"The nightmares?"

"Yeah."

Dimitri's warm brown eyes regarded me for a moment. Usually, when people looked at me like that, like they could read my mind or whatever, it irritated the hell out of me. But with him, I knew it was only because he was concerned.

"You could have called me," he said quietly, pulling me aside so we could talk properly. "You know I don't mind if you need to talk about it."

I forced a smile and shook my head. "What, and deprive you of your beauty sleep?" I joked.

"Evie –" he began, but I held my hands up to stop him.

"Look, it wasn't that bad this time," I told him. "It was just – well, I thought that they'd stopped."

He nodded understandingly and squeezed my shoulder. "Promise me that if you have another one, you'll call me. I don't care what time it is, just call and I'll be right over, okay?"

"Cross my heart and hope to die," I said gravely before grinning at him. "So, come on. Field experience. You've been waiting for this day since you were, what, about two years old?"

"Just about," he laughed as we continued on our way to the dining hall. "I mean, I know it's not real or anything but it's kind of exciting. Like, for once we don't know what's going to happen."

I nodded. "I just want to know who I'm going to be assigned to, if I'm being honest," I shrugged.

"As long as I don't get assigned to Andre Dragomir or Adrian Ivashkov, I don't care who I get," Dimitri replied.

I tensed when he said that and said through gritted teeth, "If they even _think_ about assigning me Ivashkov…" But I couldn't even finish the sentence.

"Don't worry, I'm sure you'll get Erin," Dimitri assured me as we entered the dining hall. "Speaking of Erin, where is she? She was supposed to be meeting us here."

The Erin in question was my best friend, Erin Antonov. She was a royal Moroi – a mortal vampire – and we'd been best friends since, well, forever. When I was fifteen, she had even persuaded her parents to take me in when I had nowhere else to go, so now we were pretty much inseparable. Not that we wanted to be separated; after graduation, we both hoped that I'd be assigned as her sanctioned guardian. That's when the fun would really begin.

But first of all, we had to get field experience out of way and with any luck, I'd be assigned to Erin.

"There she is," Dimitri suddenly said, pointing across the dining hall and towards the feeders room. Sure enough, Erin had just stepped out of the doorway; like all Moroi, she was tall, slender, and pale, and as she caught sight of me and Dimitri, her black eyes lit up. Apparently she was just as excited as the rest of the student body.

"There you are!" she exclaimed as she approached us. "I thought the pair of you would be harassing Alberta to kick off field experience early or something." The thought of that made her grin and her fangs that usually stayed tucked away protruded over her bottom lip.

"Harassing is such a strong word," I laughed.

Dimitri nodded. "We prefer to think of it as nudging them in the right direction," he added and the three of us exchanged laughs and eye-rolls before joining the breakfast que. Seeing as how Erin had only just fed, she wasn't particularly hungry but she picked up a vanilla yoghurt anyway. As for me and Dimitri, well, we were Dhampir's and we needed our strength. With that in mind, we piled food onto our trays and then followed Erin to our usual table.

"So, you're looking forward to it, right?" Erin asked as we sat down.

I nodded. "No classes and hanging out with you all day, every day? What's not to look forward to," I shrugged.

"I love how you just assume we're going to get put together," she laughed.

"Why wouldn't we get put together? It's what you and your parents want and the school knows that."

"I know, but you know what Alberta and the rest of them are like. They could pair you with someone else just to be assholes."

I swallowed a mouthful of food and met her gaze. "That's not going to happen. And even if it does, I'll deal as long as that don't put me with _him_."

Erin's eyes dipped downwards and beside me, I felt Dimitri tense slightly. They both knew how I felt about Adrian Ivashkov and if anything was a conversation killer, it was him.

Forcing a smile, Erin turned to Dimitri and asked him who he wanted to be paired with. It was a subtle change of conversation, steering it away from me without being a completely different topic, and as much as I was grateful to her for doing it, my mind was already racing. You see, I was a pretty self-assured girl; I was confident without being arrogant and I was good at handling situations that could prove to be difficult. But, as much as I liked to think I could deal with anything, I knew deep down that if there was one thing I couldn't deal with, it was spending an extended amount of time with Adrian Ivashkov.

Without really thinking about it, I scanned the dining hall and found him sat at his usual table. Like Erin, his was a royal Moroi; he was tall and slim with stylishly messy brown hair and impossibly bright green eyes, and even though I knew most people thought he was devastatingly good looking, everything about him repulsed me. As I watched, he slipped a small bottle of what looked like whiskey out of his pocket and tipped the contents into his morning coffee. Typical. Even at breakfast he had to make sure that everybody knew what a hard-core party boy he was.

And then without warning, he looked straight at me.

For a moment, I refused to drop my gaze. Well, I say gaze. It was more of a glare. He didn't seem to mind, though; he simply stared back, a smile playing on his lips. God, I wanted to wipe that smile off of his face. But I couldn't do that so I looked away. A second later, I felt him look away, too.

"Are you okay?" Dimitri asked me quietly, seeing my hostile expression.

"Coffee isn't warm enough," I muttered and even though I knew he didn't buy it, he didn't push me for the truth. He was good like that.

Erin was good like that, too. "I'll warm it up for you, if you want?" she offered.

It was an offer too good to refuse, even though the coffee wasn't really that cold, so I handed her my mug and watched as she used her magic to heat it up. All Moroi wielded elemental magic – earth, air, fire, or water – and by the time they reached our age, students specialized in one element. Erin had specialized in fire and as I watched, a small sphere of blue fire appeared in the palm of her hand; she held the mug over it and grinned as the contents began to bubble.

"You're getting really good at that, you know," I pointed out as she handed me my drink back.

"Thanks," she laughed. "You know, for a while I thought I wasn't going to specialize at all. Can you remember, Evie?" I nodded and she turned to Dimitri. "We spent the entire summer trying to figure out why one element wasn't getting stronger than the others," she told him.

He frowned. "I thought all Moroi specialized sooner or later?"

"Nope," Erin replied before dropping her voice. "Adrian Ivashkov still hasn't specialized," she told us. "Apparently Ms. Carmack keeps telling him that it will come but quite a few people think that if he hasn't specialized by now, he's never going to."

I hid a sly grin by taking a quick mouthful of my now scorching coffee as Dimitri said, "That must be hard for him. It kind of explains a few things, though."

"What, like the non-stop drinking and smoking and acting like an ass?" I snorted. They both looked at me. "Maybe that's why he isn't specializing. Because he's got so much crap in his system."

"It can't be that," Dimitri replied. "I mean, look at Andre Dragomir." The three of us glanced across at him; another royal Moroi with the typical Moroi build, topped off with pale blond hair and jade-green eyes. "He drinks and smokes and acts like an ass but he still specialized," Dimitri pointed out.

"Maybe Adrian just had it coming, then," I said off-handedly.

"He could still specialize, though," Erin shrugged.

"The only thing Ivashkov is ever going to specialize in is being as asshole," I replied and even though they both tried not to, Dimitri and Erin laughed. Eventually, I had to join in, even though it really wasn't that funny. I'd meant what I said and the darker side of me kind of hoped that Adrian never did specialize. It wasn't fair to wish that on any Moroi, seeing as how not specializing was like not going through puberty, but hey, life wasn't fair.

"You're terrible, Evie," Erin finally managed to get out as she wiped a tear of laughter away from her eyes.

"That's why you love me, though," I grinned before finishing off my coffee and nudging Dimitri. "Are you ready to get going or do you think it's a little early?" I asked him.

He checked his watch. "I'd rather be five minutes early than five minutes late," he replied.

"Then let's get to the gym." I picked up my tray and turned to Erin. "We'll catch up with you later, okay?"

She grinned and gave us the thumbs up. "Good luck. Not that you need it or anything."

"Thanks," I smiled and after me and Dimitri had said our goodbyes to her, we dropped off our trays near the bins and headed outdoors.

As we crossed the courtyard, we picked up a few other novices from our class who were headed towards the gym; Logan Burgess jogged up alongside us first, grinning from ear-to-ear as usual; Finn Armstrong joined us shortly afterwards, looking nervous but managing a smile when we asked him if he was okay; and just as the gym came into view, Daisy Caine sauntered across to us, throwing her arms around as she chatted animatedly.

"God, I'm so nervous!" she told me breathlessly. "Is it normal to be this nervous? I really don't think it's normal to be this nervous."

I laughed. "I think everyone's a little nervous. Don't let it get to you, I'm sure you'll do fine."

"I guess," she replied. "It's just – well, you know, I've got to nail this. I'll never live it down if I don't."

"Your mom's expecting you to do brilliantly, right?" I asked.

She nodded. "You've got it in one. It's like, just because she's some Strigoi-killing machine, she expects me to be as badass as her, you know?"

"I don't know," I shrugged off-handedly, "but I understand what you're saying."

"Oh, Evie, I didn't mean –" she started, catching sight of my expression, but I waved her off. "Anyway, it's like, what if I'm not good enough? What if I can't cut it?"

I really felt sorry for Daisy right then. She came from a long line of super successful female guardians and I knew that it stressed her out because everybody expected her to be just as good as them. Not that she wasn't a good novice because she was. She just didn't need the extra pressure of carrying on that kind of legacy. It kind of made me grateful that I didn't have a family reputation to uphold. Well, I did, but I definitely wasn't going to uphold it; my family wasn't exactly known for the right reasons.

"Evie?" Daisy suddenly said. I looked up, surprised; I'd been so busy thinking that I hadn't even realized that we'd made it to the gym. "Are you okay?" she asked. "You look a little…" But she trailed off, apparently unable to find the words to describe how I looked.

Forcing a smile, I nodded. "Never been better," I told her. "Just can't wait to get this show on the road."

"That's the Evie I know and love," she grinned before turning away from me and cupping her hands around her mouth, shouting, "Belikov! Burgess! Armstrong! Get your asses over here, we're going in!" She turned back around and gave me a quick hug. "Good luck, Evie. I'm sure you'll get Erin," she said.

I smiled. "Thanks," I replied but just as she turned away to go inside, called after her. "Which Moroi are you after, anyway?" I asked.

Laughing, she gave me a little smile and winked. "Andre Dragomir," she told me, "but you can't tell anybody I said that." And after waving at me, she went inside, followed closely by Logan and Finn.

"Are you ready?" Dimitri asked me as he drew up at my side.

I nodded. "As ready as I'll ever be. Come on, let's get this over with."

"You make it sound so unpleasant," he laughed as he led me into the gym.

"The waiting part _is_ unpleasant. I just want to know who I've got already." But I stopped there, knowing that if the conversation continued, we'd stray into potentially dangerous territory.

Claiming our seats, me and Dimitri sat down and looked towards the front where the senior guardians were waiting for everybody to arrive. Apparently, we were among the last novices to show up because seconds later, Alberta stepped forward, ready to speak.

Basically, her and Stan took it in turns to tell us how important field experience was, what our duties were, what we could and couldn't do, blah, blah, blah… I tuned out for most of it, not because I was being ignorant but because I already knew exactly what field experience would entail; me and Dimitri had done some serious research a couple of months ago and I still remembered every single detail. I didn't need a reminder. Then again, neither did Dimitri, but he was still staring towards the front, listening intently. I tuned back in again and figured out why Dimitri was paying attention; our names were being called. Great.

"Finn Armstrong," Alberta called out. "You are assigned to Julian Zeklos."

Dimitri and I watched as Finn stood up and made his way over to Stan who was handing out the packets and practice stakes; he looked a little nervous still but I figured that had more to do with the fact that he'd been assigned to Julian Zeklos who was, to put it simply, not one of the nicest people.

"Logan Burgess," Alberta said. "Selina Szelsky."

I laughed as Logan bounded towards the front, the smile on his face even broader than usual. It was no secret amongst the novices that he had a thing for Selina Szelsky and a few people wolf-whistled as he collected his things. It didn't bother Logan, though; he simply grinned and shot us all the thumbs up.

"Daisy Caine." I craned my neck, looking for Daisy; I found her in the front row, waiting on baited breath. "Andre Dragomir."

She jumped to her feet so abruptly that I was surprised she didn't trip over them in her eagerness to get across to Stan. Once she'd gotten her things, she scanned the gym until her gaze met my own and then winked. I laughed and rolled my eyes at her as she practically skipped out of the gym.

And then it was my turn.

"Evie Parker," Alberta called out. I glanced towards the front, my stomach suddenly tightening in anticipation. _Please be Erin, please be Erin, please be Erin..._ I thought, even crossing my fingers for good measure.

"Adrian Ivashkov."

No. No, I must have heard that wrong. For a split-second, I contemplated laughing, some part of me adamant that this pairing was just one big joke at my expense. Apparently, it wasn't.

"Evelyn Parker, would you care to join us up here?" Alberta snapped as I remained motionless in my seat.

Beside me, Dimitri murmured, "You'd better move, Evie, or they're going to get seriously pissed at you."

I got to my feet and, in a state of barely-concealed shock, walked towards Alberta. _This is not happening_, I kept repeating to myself. Me paired with Adrian Ivashkov, of all people? That was the kind of thing that could only happen in dreams. Or, on second thoughts, nightmares.

But sure enough, when Stan had handed me my packet and I had flipped it over, the words _Adrian Ivashkov_ stared back at me. Hesitantly, I ripped it open and found his whole life spread out before me in paper-form. A current picture, illustrating those green eyes and that messy brown hair, and his bio, detailing his background as a member of one of the most prominent royal families.

At this point, all we had been told to do was read through our packets, pack a bag, and then meet up with our assigned Moroi at lunch. More names were called as I read through the dossier, but I barely paid attention. I mean, why should I give a crap at who got assigned who, especially when I had just been assigned, in my opinion, the worst Moroi _ever_? Even when I heard Dimitri's name being called, I couldn't focus for long enough to hear who he had been assigned to. I was just _that_ traumatized.

And then I was angry. In fact, no, I wasn't angry. I was _fuming_! How could they do this to me? How could they pair me with Adrian when they knew how I felt about him? About his family? Maybe they really were having a joke at my expense. _Well_, I thought furiously, _the joke stops right here_!

When the last novice had been assigned a Moroi, I stomped towards Alberta. She was stood with Stan and I swear that when she saw me approaching, she rolled her eyes as if to say 'Here we go…'.

"What the hell is this?" I demanded, coming to a halt in front of them and shoving my packet under their noses.

Alberta straightened up. "That, Miss Parker, is your assignment," she told me, pronouncing each word slowly, like she was talking to a five year old or something.

"I don't think it is," I said through gritted teeth. "This is somebody else's assignment because it sure as hell isn't mine."

"I don't think you quite understand the concept of field experience," Alberta replied. "Your assignments are not optional, just as your assignments in the real world won't be optional. If this isn't to your liking, Miss Parker, I suggest you tell us now and save yourself the bother of graduating."

"But – but I hate Adrian," I exclaimed, getting worked up. "I mean, if I have to be around him for six weeks, he's going to need extra protection because, trust me, if a Strigoi doesn't kill him, I will!"

"Well, I never thought I'd live to see the day that Miss Parker would doubt her own guardian skills," Alberta sniffed.

"I didn't say that! What I am saying is this: Adrian Ivashkov?" I threw my packet on the floor and folded my arms across my chest. "You must be delusional if you think I'm guarding him."

"Evie." It was Dimitri, speaking in that calm, controlled voice he used when he could see I was about to fly off the handle. I glanced at him but one look at his expression told me that if I didn't shut up, I was going to fuck up. Badly. My mouth snapped shut.

"Finished so soon, Miss Parker?" Alberta said. _The hell I was...!_ "Good," she continued, "because if you refuse to guard Mr Ivashkov, you instantly opt out of field experience. Understood?"

Opt out of field experience? Over my dead body! If I didn't complete my field experience, I didn't graduate. And I couldn't not graduate. But still – it was so unfair! I glanced towards Dimitri again. He nodded discreetly and I knew that I had to accept my assignment.

As gracefully as I could manage, I picked the packet up. "Understood," I said frostily as I drew back up to my full height, an unimpressive five foot three. "I'll guard Ivashkov. But, trust me, if I could have it my way, he'd be the last person I would even contemplate guarding."

"I think we've gathered that, Miss Parker," Alberta said dryly.

"Well, it wasn't like I didn't spell it out for you."

And turning on my heel, I stomped out of the gym and towards the dining hall. I knew that I'd handled the situation all wrong. If I'd really wanted them to reconsider my assignment, I should have done it politely with a smile on my face, and all I had done was make myself sound like a little bitch. But, seriously, they knew what I'd been through and they knew that I hated the Ivashkov's. Not just Adrian, but all of them, the whole freaking family! If they'd lived through the things I had, then they'd be bitchy, too. And, anyway, I was about to spend six weeks with Adrian Ivashkov, for crying out loud, one of two people who I really could not stand. And for good reason, too; he was an arrogant, womanizing, chain-smoking, boozing jackass.

My stomach tightened as I ran through those qualities in my head.

I couldn't wait for field experience to be over.


	2. Chapter 2: Roll With It

Chapter Two: Roll With It

"Evie."

I was stomping through the courtyard, heading back to my dorm so I could re-pack my bag, when somebody said my name.

"What do you want, Gwen?" I sighed, coming to a halt.

Gwen Dobrev stepped out of the shadows, a cigarette in one hand and a bottle of – ugh – blood in the other. I rolled my eyes and folded my arms across my chest. Gwen was your typical good girl gone bad. Last year, she'd run away to Russia with her boyfriend and back then, she'd dressed in pastels, smiled when spoken to, and got all her homework in on time. Since she'd come back to St. Vladimir's, though, the only color she wore was black, she scowled if anybody got too close to her, and the only time she turned up to class was when she felt like it. Everybody else seemed to think that it was the result of a bad break-up but I was sure there was more to it than that.

Taking another step towards me, Gwen offered me her bottle of blood. "O negative?" she asked, smiling slightly.

"I think I'll pass, thanks," I replied dryly.

"Why? I've warmed it up and everything."

"I'm not in the mood to play games, Gwen," I snapped. "If you want something, spit it out. If not, get the hell out of my way."

She laughed humorlessly and tugged at the sleeve of her black leather jacket. "There's lots of things that I want, Evie, things that I know are never going to happen," she said bitterly. "But right now, I want to talk to somebody. Guess what? You got lucky."

Well, _that_ was different; I could hardly remember the last time Gwen had spoken to anyone, let alone spoken to me. Maybe I could spare her a few minutes. And, hey, anything to take my mind off of the impending field experience. "Make it quick," I finally said.

She grinned. Well, I say grin. It looked more like she was bearing her fangs. "So, what's with the face? No offence, but I've seen happier Strigoi," she said.

"Seen a lot of Strigoi, have you?" I demanded.

She laughed and took a swig of blood. "Seriously, what's up?"

"Why do you care?"

"I _don't_ care. But listening to your problems has got to be better than thinking about my own."

"What, did the blood bank run out of O positive or something? Because that doesn't count as a problem."

"I don't like O positive. It's too sweet," she shrugged.

I rolled my eyes and folded my arms. "Can I go please? As much as I'd love to hear more about your dietary preferences, I've got places to be," I told her.

"Tell me what's up and then you can go."

"You make it sound like you could actually keep me here."

She did the whole fang-bearing thing again. "I could."

I shook my head but I didn't walk away. I didn't see the point. Soon enough, everybody would know about me being assigned to Adrian. "I didn't get Erin for field experience," I said quietly, and even I could hear the dejection in my voice.

Gwen stared at me for a moment. And then shook her head in exasperation. "I had you down for a lot of things, Parker, but I never had you down as a drama queen," she said.

"A drama queen?" I repeated incredulously.

"Well, it's hardly the end of the world," she shrugged before taking another swig of blood and saying, "Who _did_ you get?"

"Adrian Ivashkov."

That caught her attention. For a split-second, her whole 'I-couldn't-care-less' attitude vanished and she looked genuinely concerned. And then she caught herself; straightening up, she rooted through her pockets for another cigarette and when she found one, she lit it up, the whole façade back in place.

"You shouldn't smoke," I told her as she exhaled. "It's bad for you."

She laughed but, like before, it was humorless. "If it doesn't kill you, it makes you stronger," she said off-handedly before forcing a grin. "Sure I can't tempt you with a little O negative?"

I shook my head. "Maybe next time. But, right now, I've got to go and pack."

Gwen looked up, surprised, but nodded.

Giving her the briefest of smiles, I turned on my heel and made to walk away but just as I did, she called after me, "Evie!" I looked back. "If Adrian – if anything happens –" But then she broke off and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. I'll see you around." And just like that, she disappeared back into the shadows, leaving me to go back to my dorm and get my things together.

* * *

Packing wasn't usually something I put much effort into. In fact, packing was something that I put _minimal_ effort into. But seeing as how I would be sharing a room with a guy who would probably hit on a lamp post if he'd drank enough vodka, I figured that maybe I'd have to be a bit more conscious of the kind of clothing I packed. This meant that skirts and low-cut tops were out and jumpers and jeans were in. But that wasn't too bad. The only problem I did have was deciding what night clothes to pack. Normally, I'd sleep in a pair of shorts and a vest top but both items suddenly seemed extremely inappropriate. In the end, I dug out my baggiest bottoms and my most shapeless top and packed them. Sure, they were hideous but as long as they hid my figure from Ivashkov's wandering eyes, that was fine by me.

Clothing chosen, I threw my toiletries into the bag and then glanced around my room, searching for anything else I'd need to take with me. I wasn't much of a trinket person so most of my surfaces were bare but my bedside table was littered with photographs. Most of them were of me and my friends, particularly Erin and Dimitri, but there was one at the bottom of the pile of me, my mom, and my two older sisters.

I picked that one up and considered it. At the time, I was about thirteen, and the four of us were sat outside, clustered together. As I scanned the picture, it never failed to amaze me how much we all looked alike; we all had long, honey-blond hair and bright blue eyes, just like mom, and we were all grinning like idiots at the person taking the photo. Seeing that smile on my face made me feel sick to the bottom of my stomach but I resisted the urge to rip the photo up. Instead, I slipped it into my bag and checked the time.

Lunch had started. By now, most of the other novices would be with their assigned Moroi.

Picking up my bag, I muttered a reluctant goodbye to my room and sighed heavily. _Just let me get through the next six weeks_, I thought as I stepped outside and set off towards the dining hall, _because if I can make it though that, I can make it through anything_.

That was my reasoning, anyway.

* * *

Before going to find Adrian, I figured I had to share the news with Erin. I found her in the dining hall, sat at our usual table by herself; she was reading something and every now and again she had to brush her silvery blond hair out of her black eyes. For a moment, I thought about going back to Alberta and begging her to reconsider, literally getting down on my knees and pleading, but I knew it was pointless. My assignment was final and even though I didn't like it in the slightest, I knew that the only thing I could do now was grit my teeth and get on with it.

Erin looked up as I approached her and when she saw it was me, she smiled sadly. "It's true then?" she asked, seeing my murderous expression. "You really have been paired with Adrian?"

I sat down next to her and made some noise of outrage before burying my head in my hands.

"It won't be that bad," she said soothingly as she patted my back. "I mean, I hang out with him all the time at royal functions and stuff."

"Yeah, well, I think we've already established that you're insane," I replied. "And, anyway, you only have to hang out with him every now and again. I'm going to be stuck with him for the next six weeks straight."

"Technically, it's only for five weeks and one day."

"Don't 'technically' me."

She laughed. "Look, on your days off I promise I'll devote a full hour to verbal Adrian-bashing with you, okay?"

I muttered something about bumping it up to two hours and then sat up to stare around the room. It was heaving with students, all of them whispering excitedly about the impending field exercise which would begin as soon as lunch finished. After a moment of figuring out who the other novices had been assigned, I saw Dimitri heading across to mine and Erin's table. I wondered if he was going to tell me off for being so rude to the senior guardians but it turned out that he had been assigned to Erin. When he sat down across from us, I reluctantly asked if he had seen Adrian.

Dimitri gave me a small smile and I knew he was trying to tell me that he was sorry about how things had turned out. "I think he's with the feeders," he replied before turning to Erin and assuring her that he was taking this whole situation very seriously.

"Thanks," she laughed, "but, seriously, Dimitri, I draw the line at letting you shadow me in the bathroom. Call me old fashioned but I like to shower alone."

At that point, somebody behind me drawled, "Well, I wouldn't mind if my guardian shadowed me in the bathroom. _Especially_ if she were to join me in the shower."

I immediately tensed, my hands forming fists without me even realizing, and waited. Seconds later, Adrian pulled out the seat beside me and sat down, a wide grin on his face. I resisted the urge to punch him.

"You know, Evie, I actually can't wait until this show gets on the road," he said. "You and I are going to have a fun time, I can promise you that now. You sleeping in my room, being there each and every hour, having no choice but to do as I tell you…"

I glared at him. "I'm your guardian, not your fucking slave."

"Feisty little thing, aren't you?" Adrian laughed. "Even better. I like my women feisty." He winked at me and then got to his feet. "Well, I'll be off for now. Come and find me when you've said your goodbyes to your friends." And then he was gone.

I took a deep breath, trying to rein in the impulse to run after him and show him exactly how feisty I was, while Erin and Dimitri watched me wearily.

"Are you okay?" Erin finally asked quietly, reaching out to cover my hand with hers.

For a moment, I didn't say anything. I didn't trust myself to reply, knowing that if I spoke there and then, I'd regret whatever came out of my mouth. But after taking another deep breath, I nodded determinedly. "Yeah. Yeah, I'm fine."

"We could talk to Alberta," Dimitri suggested. "She might change her mind."

I shook my head. "You know what? I'm just going to get on with it," I said. "I mean, it could be okay." I sincerely doubted it but they seemed to buy my newfound positive outlook.

"Wow, that actually sounded like a mature response," Erin grinned before turning to Dimitri and saying, "Is it just me or did that sound like a mature response?"

Dimitri grinned. "It did." He turned to me. "Who are you and what have you done with Evelyn Parker?"

"Hey, it's Evie! You know I _hate_ Evelyn," I said crossly, folding my arms across my chest and glaring at them. And just like that, the three of us burst out laughing. That's what I loved about Erin and Dimitri; I could be on the verge of tears or about to hurl something at a wall and seconds later they could have me laughing until my sides ached. Now that's friendship.

"I'm so going to outgrow you two one day," I told them as I got to my feet.

Erin grinned. "You love us both too much for that."

I made some non-committal sound but smiled at them both before walking across to lunch line. Well, if I was going to be stuck with Adrian Ivashkov as soon as the bell rang, I at least wanted to be fueled with caffeine and plenty of it. That in mind, I got my second coffee of the day before heading back to Erin and Dimitri. Before I could get very far, though, Daisy appeared in front of me, an apologetic smile on her face.

"Are you okay?" she asked me. "I heard about you being assigned to Adrian…"

"I heard about that, too," I said dryly before shaking my head. "Honestly, I'll deal with it. Erin's in safe hands and that's all that matters."

"Dimitri got her, didn't he?" I nodded. "Then she's definitely in safe hands." Daisy grinned at this point and clapped her hands together. "At least this means we'll get to spend more time together. You know, with Adrian and Andre living in each other pockets," she said.

I suddenly felt a lot better about the whole situation. Daisy was right; Adrian and Andre hung out all the time which meant that me and her would be able to hang out a lot. Well, we wouldn't be able to lounge around and drink and smoke like our Moroi but it would be a small comfort to have somebody to exchange smirks and eye-rolls with.

Daisy ended up joining me, Dimitri and Erin and the four of us spent the rest of our lunch hour discussing guardian techniques. By the time the bell rang, I was raring to go, even though I knew that enthusiasm would die as soon as I laid eyes on Adrian. But, whatever. I wasn't going to let it get to me. I would stay calm and in control and I most definitely would not punch Adrian in the face, no matter how much I wanted to.

"Good luck," Erin whispered as she hugged me goodbye. "I know you can do this, Evie. You're the strongest person I know."

Hearing her say that put a smile on my face and when the hug was over, I saw the absolute faith she had in me shinning in her eyes. "Thanks," I told her, "but, just in case things go wrong, you're dad knows the name of a really good lawyer, right?"

Erin shook her head at me and laughed but before we could indulge in any ridiculously prolonged goodbyes, Dimitri switched into guardian mode and swept her away to her next class.

"I'll see you on Sunday, okay?" she called back to me but before I could reply, her and Dimitri were swept up in the crowds, leaving me to search for Adrian; Daisy had long-since disappeared to look for Andre and I felt well and truly deserted as I scanned the dining hall for a glimpse of brown hair and green eyes.

"Looking for somebody?"

Like before, I balled my hands into fists and turned around slowly, coming face-to-face with Adrian; he was smiling, his head tilted to the side slightly as he considered me for several long seconds. I stared back steadily, keeping my expression as neutral as possible.

And then, out of nowhere, he said the strangest thing. "You don't particularly like me, do you, Evie?" he asked.

I frowned slightly. Why the hell was he calling me on that now, when we were about to spend six weeks together? It was like he was trying to make me feel uncomfortable or something.

But I wasn't going to lie to him. I mean, I'd been called a lot of things in the past but I had never been called a liar. So, instead of pretending to be shocked and assuring him that I did like him, I simply said, "No, I don't."

"Well, that explains the change," he murmured.

"The change?" I repeated, confused.

Adrian laughed but he didn't elaborate, much to my annoyance; instead, he turned on his heel and headed for the door. I stared after him for a moment, even though I knew I should have been following.

"Are you coming?" he called back to me.

I scowled. "You make it sound like I have a choice in the matter," I muttered to myself before going after him.


	3. Chapter 3: Bitter Sweet

**Chapter Two: Bitter Sweet**

**A/N: So… I'm an idiot. Completely forgot to disclaim anything in the last chapter so here we go: I disclaim, I own nothing but Evie, Erin & a few other background characters.**

**Anyway, Chapter Three: Evie's first afternoon with Adrian… Will she punch him in the face for being, well, him? It's touch-and-go but you'll have to read to find out :) & if you read, you might as well review :) Oh, and enjoy :)**

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Field experience sucked.

Okay, so it wasn't that bad; I got to attend lessons without doing any work and Adrian was busy pretending to work so he didn't have the opportunity to harass me. But as the afternoon went on, the solitude of being a guardian started to get to me. Sure, I was surrounded by people but I couldn't speak to them and that nearly killed me. I was so used to constantly getting told off for talking that keeping quiet for a change was proving to be seriously difficult. I wasn't going to give in, though, and it seemed like the rest of the novices felt the same way. Instead, we all determinedly scanned the room, desperate to keep all entry points under cover in case any 'Strigoi' attacked.

My mind still wandered, though. I couldn't help it. One minute I'd be looking around, checking that everything was in order, and the next I'd be thinking about Erin and Dimitri. I knew it was stupid but I missed them already. It didn't help that I had to watch the Moroi laughing and joking as they worked but it was a small consolation that they didn't seem to be having as much fun as me, Erin and Dimitri did when we were together.

As Biology drew to an end, Daisy headed across to me while the Moroi began to pack their things away. She wanted to know what class Adrian had next and when I told her that he had art, she looked disappointed.

"Why, what's Andre got?" I asked.

She rolled her eyes. "Debate. This means that we can't use the pair guarding technique."

Horrified, I realized that she was right. Up until now, we'd been using the pairing technique we'd learnt in class; basically, Erin walked alongside Andre and Adrian to provide immediate defense while I acted as far guard to keep an eye out for any potential threats. It was something that we found worked well and it also meant that I didn't have to spend as much time at Adrian's side. Now, though, it looked like I was going to have to suck it up and walk beside him. It wasn't something that I was particularly looking forward to.

"Ladies," a voice from behind us suddenly said; we turned around to see Andre and Adrian, both of them grinning and flashing their fangs. "Care to escort us to class?" Andre asked.

For the second time that day, I muttered something about not having a choice in the matter and after telling Daisy I would see her later, I turned to Adrian and said, "Lead the way."

He didn't try to talk to me as we made our way to his next class. I was grateful, not just because I didn't want to talk to him but because it also meant I could really concentrate on keeping check of our surroundings; the senior guardians hadn't tested me yet and I was pretty sure that one had to be coming soon. When it did, I wanted to be ready for it. I _needed_ to be ready for it.

Adrian's art class was surprisingly small. The room itself was large with two exits and once the other novices turned up, we decided that it was probably a good idea for us to work together to protect the entire class. At first, I was all for it, but when the others suggested that we should still stick close to our assigned Moroi, I lost a little enthusiasm. Still, I grudgingly accepted to guard the door near Adrian's table and wondered across to him, hoping he would be too busy finger-painting or whatever to notice me.

When I drew up behind him, though, it became clear that Adrian took this class very seriously. He was already mixing paints onto a palette, for once ignoring his class mates in favour of actually doing some work, and for a while I watched him silently.

"What are you doing?" I eventually asked as Adrian put up a blank canvas and considered it.

"I'm painting," he replied simply.

"Yeah, I figured that out. What are you painting?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet," he said. "Maybe a landscape. Or maybe you could pull up a chair and be my muse."

I rolled my eyes. "Stick with the landscape."

"If you insist. But I could make you the next Mona Lisa."

I sighed. "I can't believe that I'm going to be stuck with you for the next six weeks."

Adrian laughed and began to mix more colors on his palette. "I'm actually not that bad, you know. Maybe if you gave me a chance instead of assuming that your opinion of me is correct, you'd see that."

"I'm here, aren't I? If that isn't giving you a chance then I don't know what is," I shrugged.

"You're here because you want to graduate, Evie. I know perfectly well that, given the choice, I'd be the last Moroi you'd even think about protecting."

He was half-right. I didn't admit that, though.

"But I know that if it came to it, you would protect me," he said confidently.

"Yeah, because you're a Moroi."

Adrian shook his head and dipped his paint brush into a pot of water. "The fact that I'm a Moroi doesn't make a difference. I could be a Moroi or a Dhampir or a human, and you'd still protect me because you're a good person."

I frowned. Surprisingly, he was right; I would protect him if I had to, not because I liked him but because I knew the difference between right and wrong. That didn't mean I had to like him, though.

Silence fell between us after that and seeing as how there wasn't much else to do, I watched him paint the entire canvas in shades of blue and purple that were so dark they almost looked black. Once he'd done that, he used a thinner brush and added tiny specks of metallic silver to the painting. I couldn't help but be amused at how seriously he was taking it but I figured that as long as it kept him quiet, it was a good thing. Still, the lack of conversation was getting to me but seeing as how Adrian had decided to do some work instead of talking for a change, I didn't try to strike up a conversation again.

As the class went on, I ended up drifting across to Finn Armstrong; like Adrian, Julian Zeklos had chosen art and Finn was stood a couple of feet away from him, looking around the room anxiously. He managed a small smile when I approached him, though, and we spent a few minutes discussing how the day had gone so far; neither of us had been tested yet and judging from the unhappy expression in Finn's face, he still wasn't impressed with his assigned Moroi, either.

"I know you don't like Adrian," he said quietly, "but at least he isn't acting like a jackass. I wish I could say the same for Julian. You should hear some of the things he talks about –" But then he broke off abruptly, like he'd said something he shouldn't have.

"Like what?" I asked curiously, actually interested in what Julian Zeklos had to say for a change.

"Girls, mostly." Finn paused and looked away from me before he added, "Dhampir girls."

And just like that I knew where the conversation was heading. As much as I didn't want to hear what Julian Zeklos had been saying about Dhampir girls, a part of me wanted – no, needed – to ask exactly what he'd said. Before I could do that, though, Julian called Finn across to him.

"We'll talk about this later," I said quietly.

Finn nodded, even though I could tell by his expression that it was the last thing he wanted to talk about with me, and headed across to Julian who was watching me with a smirk on his face. Instead of demanding to know what the hell he was staring at, though, I turned my back on him and stalked back to where Adrian was working.

"If looks could kill," he laughed as he caught sight of my livid expression but he didn't ask me if I was okay, probably because he knew that if he did, I'd tell him to mind his own damn business.

Turning on my heel, I took up my original position by the door I had been guarding and as I did, I saw that Adrian had finished his painting. For a moment, all I could do was stare.

"Did – did you do that?" I asked in dis-belief.

Adrian glanced at me, a half-smile on his face. "Don't sound so surprised," he said, his tone teasing.

Now that the entire thing was finished, I saw that the dark blues and purples he'd used made up a night sky and the silver metallic dots were stars. What caught my attention, though, was the bold splashes of gold, violet and cerulean that he'd used to create a kind of mist across the scene. The whole thing was surreal but that didn't make it any less hypnotic or any less beautiful.

"Are you okay?" Adrian eventually asked. I nodded. "So, what do you think? And please, don't try to spare my feelings."

"Honestly?" I said, looking up at him and meeting his gaze. "I think you're really talented."

Adrian smiled widely at me. "Thanks. Maybe now you've seen how gifted I am you'll let me paint you…?" He trailed off, watching me expectantly.

"Not going to happen."

"We'll see," he said cheerfully before starting to pack his things away.

I shook my head and resumed my post by the door, watching as he gathered up his paintbrushes and palette before heading across to the store cupboard. If I had been surprised at how good his painting had turned out, I was downright gob-smacked when I saw him cleaning up after himself. Seeing that, I couldn't help but think that maybe he was right; maybe all I had to do was give him a chance.

That in mind, I picked up the tube of metallic silver paint that Adrian had left behind and hurried across to the store cupboard; he was still in there, presumably putting his things away, but as I opened the door and stepped inside, I saw that whatever it was that he was putting away, it definitely wasn't art supplies.

"What the hell are you doing?" I hissed at him.

Adrian smiled as he tucked a hip flask into his pocket. "Just a little pick-me-up," he said, reaching out to take the paint from me and as he did, I caught the scent of spirits on him.

"In the middle of the afternoon!" I exclaimed. "Are you crazy? You can't drink in class!"

"Technically I'm not in class. I'm in a cupboard," he pointed out.

I stared at him incredulously. "That – that isn't the point!"

"Then what is the point?"

"The point is that for one stupid moment, I forgot who you are," I said coldly. "But don't worry. I won't make that mistake again." And without giving him the chance to reply, I stomped out of the store cupboard.

We walked towards Adrian's dorm in silence. I'd like to say it was an awkward silence but apparently Adrian didn't do awkward; he walked alongside me with a smile on his face, humming happily to himself. I wondered if he was in such high spirits because of all the alcohol he'd been drinking on the sly. Maybe that was why he always seemed so content, because he was constantly wasted. I figured that I'd find out over the duration of the next six weeks.

"I don't know why you're so annoyed," Adrian suddenly said.

I scowled at him. "You picked up on that, huh?" I asked, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

"I'm an extremely perceptive person," he laughed, ignoring my tone, "and I can tell that you could do with some cheering up." And without warning, he came to a halt in the middle of the corridor. "Come on, we're going to the library," he announced.

"The library?" I repeated. "You think that watching you pretend to study is going to cheer me up?"

"Pretend?" he said in mock-outrage, but before he could say anything else, something further on up the corridor caught our attention.

One of the senior guardians, Moira, had appeared out of nowhere and was playing Strigoi. She reached for one of the Moroi students, swinging her away from her guardian effortlessly, and pulling her head to the side. The Moroi girls neck now exposed, Moira leaned forward as if to bite her. At first, I wasn't sure who the girl was but when I saw that her guardian was Logan Burgess, I knew that it was Selina Szelsky. She was squirming uncomfortably in Moira's grip but she wasn't screaming. Still, Logan took the attack seriously and sprung into action, pulling Selina out of Moira's grip and pushing her towards another novice. The surrounding spectators were acting as if it was some school yard fight, some students even whistling and cheering Logan on.

As a sudden rush of adrenalin surged through me, I scanned the immediate area for more attacks which was just as well seeing as how two other senior guardians were sneaking up on another novice and his assigned Moroi.

Without even thinking about it, I shoved Adrian against the wall, pressing myself against him to shield him from the crowds. He opened his mouth to say something which, judging from the grin on his face as he looked down at me, would have been extremely inappropriate. Before Adrian could speak, though, I yelled at the novice who was about to come under attack. He stared at me for a moment and then got his act together when he saw the two senior guardians heading his way.

That done, I glanced up at Adrian. "Are you okay?" I asked, worried that maybe I'd shoved him against the wall a little too hard.

"I've never been better," he replied, that grin still on his face that told me he was getting more out of our current situation than he should have been.

I rolled my eyes at him and took a step backwards. Before he could say anything else, though, an arm shot out from the side of me and reached for him.

I didn't even consider the possibility that it could be a friend asking if he was okay. Instead, I grabbed the arm and twisted it, which turned out to be a good call because it was yet another attack, this time the imposing Strigoi being none other than Alberta. _Excellent_, I thought as I pulled her arm up into a secure position behind her back. Well, I was still pissed off at being paired with Adrian and this seemed like the perfect opportunity for pay-back.

Slamming her against the wall, I called for another novice to come and protect Adrian who was watching me in surprise. Even though Alberta was seriously strong and putting up a hell of a fight, she couldn't get out of my grip and I managed to keep a hold of her until somebody came along. It was Logan who arrived first and while he looked out for Adrian, I pulled my practice stake out of my pocket, spun Alberta around to face me, and slammed it into her chest.

"Well done, Miss Parker," she said as I let her go and fell into line beside Adrian.

I nodded and put my stake back in my pocket. "Just protecting my _assigned_ Moroi," I said, though I couldn't make my reply as bitchy as I'd wanted because I was secretly thrilled that I had done so well. In fact, I was so happy at passing my first test that I even forgot to be mad at Adrian and as Alberta walked away, I grinned at him.

"I told you that you'd protect me," he said serenely.

"Yeah, well, don't read too much into it," I replied before thanking Logan for stepping in.

He grinned. "No problem. It was worth it just to see Alberta's face when you got her up against the wall," he laughed.

"I doubt that she enjoyed it as much as I did," Adrian said.

I chose to ignore that and after Logan and I had congratulated each other on getting good marks, me and Adrian set off down the corridor.

"You know, I'm not annoyed anymore," I pointed out, "so technically we don't have to go to the library."

Adrian laughed. "I don't know what you take me for, Evie, but I take my studies very seriously."

I didn't believe that for a second but when we arrived in the library, it became clear why he had insisted on the trip; Erin and Dimitri were in there.

Smiling at me first, Adrian sauntered across to the table that my two best friends were seated at and pulled out a chair. "You don't mind, do you?" he asked them.

Dimitri glanced at Erin and I knew that if she said she would rather work alone, he'd have hauled Adrian away without a moment's hesitation. But, as funny as that would have been to watch, Erin shook her head and Adrian sat down. After scanning the area for any senior guardians lurking amongst the bookshelves, I joined them.

"Hey," I smiled as I sat down on the edge of the table. "How's it going?"

Erin smiled. "If I told you that this is the first time someone's got within reaching distance of me, would that answer your question?" she said. Behind her, Dimitri rolled his eyes at me and I couldn't help but laugh; it suddenly occurred to me that it was the first time I had laughed all afternoon.

"So, come on," I said. "Tell me everything I've missed."

"You haven't missed that much," Dimitri shrugged but Erin snorted with laughter and I knew that there was something he wasn't telling me. I waited expectantly and after sighing heavily, Dimitri told me about his first test. "It was straight after lunch," he said, "and let's just say that I might have taken it a little too far."

Even Adrian leaned in a little closer at that point. "Go on," I urged.

"I kind of threw Stan at a wall," he admitted, "and he kind of blacked out."

I stared at Dimitri. "You threw Stan at a wall?" He nodded. "And he blacked out?" Another nod. "Dimitri, you're a total god!" I exclaimed and even though he looked stricken, I couldn't help but laugh.

"It's not funny," Dimitri said seriously. "I could have really hurt him."

Erin and I looked at each other… and laughed even harder. Seriously, at one point I couldn't even breathe and Erin actually had to hold onto me to stop herself from falling off her chair. Adrian watched us with an amused expression on his face but he didn't say anything; he simply shook his head and carried on doodling in the back of one of his text books.

"I can't believe I missed it," I finally managed to get out. "I would have paid good money to see that. Please tell me somebody caught it on camera?"

Dimitri shook his head and glanced at Erin before grinning. "Why don't you tell her what else happened," he said innocently.

"Why, what else happened?" I asked.

"It isn't a big deal," Erin replied sheepishly, "but when Stan grabbed me, I panicked." She paused and glanced at Dimitri who was trying to keep a straight face and failing miserably. "And, anyway, I kind of – well, Stan ended up getting, you know, a little burnt."

"A little burnt?" Dimitri laughed. "Erin, you set his shirt on fire. I'd say he got more than a little burnt."

"Okay, let me get this straight," I said. "I've missed Dimitri going all Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde on Stan's ass _and_ I missed you nearly burning the guy alive?"

They nodded.

"God, I love you guys," I sighed and when the three of us looked at each other, we fell about laughing. "I really wish I'd been there," I told them after we managed to get ourselves under control again.

"Well, if it makes you feel any better, we wished that you were there, too," Erin said.

Dimitri nodded. "Yeah. I mean, could you imagine Stan if he had to deal with getting burnt, thrown at a wall, and your smart-ass comments? He'd have had a melt-down or something."

"Ah, if only," I said wistfully as Adrian got to his feet. "You're not leaving, are you?" I asked him.

"Just taking a trip to the bathroom," he replied.

I started to get to my feet. "I should come with you."

"Evie, I'm capable of going to the bathroom alone," he laughed.

"But if someone attacks you –"

"You'll be the first to know," he said as he began to back away. "I won't be long." And then he turned on his heel and headed towards the bathrooms. I watched him go and once he had disappeared into the guys toilets, I turned back to my friends; they were already watching me, like they expecting me to start ranting as soon as Adrian was out of earshot. Honestly, I had expected it, too, but something was holding me back.

"So… You haven't killed him yet," Dimitri said, breaking the ice.

I couldn't help but laugh at that. "Yet. I haven't killed him _yet_," I grinned, but then I shook my head. "Honestly? He's isn't that bad."

"Whoa," Erin laughed. "And I thought you were being mature when you decided to give this whole thing a go. Are you feeling okay?"

"Yeah, we could take you down to the infirmary if you're feeling a little off," Dimitri added and even though his tone was serious, I could see the humor in his eyes.

"You two are so _not_ funny," I told them before sighing. "Okay, so there have been moments when he's pissed me off. Like when I caught him drinking in class." They both looked appropriately shocked at that. "But he actually isn't that bad. I mean, did you know that the only reason he wanted to come to the library was so I could spend some time with you guys?"

"Seriously?" Erin asked. I nodded. "That's kind of sweet."

"I know. But it's like, for every good thing he does, he ruins it by doing something stupid," I explained. "Like when I caught him drinking in class. He'd just finished this really good painting and for a moment, I almost liked him." Again, they both looked shocked. "But then he went and acted like an idiot," I finished.

"You know, that isn't just Adrian," Erin pointed out. "That's guys in general."

Dimitri cleared his throat. "On behalf of my gender, shut up," he said, and the three of us laughed.

"But, seriously," Erin continued, "give him a chance. He might surprise you."

"That's exactly what he said," I replied before checking my watch. "Speaking of him, where the hell has he got to?"

"Maybe he's passed out drunk in there," Erin suggested jokingly but I suddenly had visions of me carrying him back to his dorm over my shoulder.

I groaned and turned to Dimitri. "Could you go and check it out for me?" I asked him. "I'd go but, you know, I'm a girl."

He rolled his eyes and told me to look out for Erin before heading towards the bathrooms. "If only all guys were like Dimitri," I sighed when he'd gone.

Erin nodded. "I know. He's going to make some girl seriously happy one day."

I murmured my whole-hearted agreement and looked up just in time to see Dimitri heading back across to us. I couldn't help but notice that he was alone.

"We have a problem," Dimitri said quietly.

My stomach dropped. "Oh God. He's passed out, isn't he?"

"No, he isn't passed out," he replied slowly.

"Then what is it? Is he sick?" The vision I'd had of carrying Adrian back to his dorm changed; this time, I imagined carrying him back to his dorm while he threw up everywhere. It was an image I could have done without and I definitely didn't relish the idea of it actually happening.

Dimitri shook his head."He's not sick. He's gone."

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**A/N: I actually LOVED writing this chapter so I hope you guys loved reading it :) Reviews? Comments? :) As for Chapter Four, well, expect to see a lot of Evie & Adrian. Other characters will include Erin, Dimitri, Gwen, Andre, Daisy, Finn & Julian. Will Gwen still be lurking in the shadows? Will Evie finally give into temptation and punch Adrian? And, speaking of Adrian, where the hell is he, anyway? Answers in the next chapter :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Mass Destruction

**Chapter Four: Mass Destruction **

**A/N: I disclaim. I own nothing but my own characters and plot. **

**So, Chapter Four: Adrian's just ditched Evie in the library. Definitely not a good idea. Will Evie manage to track him down before anybody finds out that she's lost her Moroi on her first day? And, speaking of Moroi, will she encounter anymore who want to make her life difficult? And will she **_**finally**_** punch Adrian when/if she manages to find him? Read on :)**

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I was going to kill Adrian when I found him.

_If_ I found him, anyway. There was no telling where he had gone and it wasn't like campus was exactly small. But I could have dealt with that. The one thing that would make tracking him down even harder would be avoiding the senior guardians. If one of them caught me walking around without my assigned Moroi, they'd kick me out of field experience in the blink of an eye. What made the whole situation worse was that they'd probably think I'd ditched him on purpose; I'd made it very clear from the start that I didn't want to guard him and they'd automatically assume that I'd done this on purpose to prove my point.

"I can't believe he'd do this to me," I said slowly, trying to hide the disbelief in my voice. "I always knew he was an asshole but I never thought he'd do this."

The more I thought about it, though, the more I began to realize that it wasn't like he'd landed me in some temporary trouble; if I didn't pass field experience, I wouldn't graduate and if I didn't graduate, that would jeopardize my entire future. And I couldn't have that. I couldn't end up like my mom and my sisters.

"I have to find him," I said, getting to my feet abruptly, my disbelief rapidly turning into anger.

Dimitri got to his feet, too. "We'll help," he told me, glancing towards Erin. "Won't we?"

"Definitely," she nodded before starting to pack her things away.

Even though I was undeniably pissed off by now, I managed to smile at them. "You guys are great, you know?" They both nodded sincerely and grinned at me. "But I've got to go after him by myself. I can't always rely on you two to have my back."

"Of course you can," Erin exclaimed. "We'll always be there for you, even if you don't need us."

Dimitri nodded in agreement. "Face facts, Evie," he said solemnly. "You're stuck with us."

I laughed at that but I eventually managed to persuade them that bringing them along with me would only increase my chances of getting caught. Neither of them wanted that, especially Erin seeing as how I was supposed to become her sanctioned guardian, so they agreed to let me go after Adrian on my own.

"We'll keep an eye out for him, though," Dimitri told me as I pulled my jacket on, "and if we see him, we'll make sure he doesn't get away again."

"Yeah, I'll even singe him a little if you want," Erin suggested, throwing in a mischievous grin for good measure.

I laughed. "If anyone's going to be inflicting pain on Adrian Ivashkov, it's going to be me," I told them and even though I'd meant it as a joke, I could hear the menacing edge to my voice.

That said, we exchanged a round of goodbyes and I hurried out of the library, wondering where I should start my search. I didn't know where Adrian hung out in his spare time but I guessed that it had to be indoors somewhere because me, Erin and Dmitri spent a lot of time outside and we rarely saw him. Once I'd figured that out, I made a mental check-list of places he could be; his dorm, a friends dorm, the commons, the feeders room… He could have been anywhere. Anywhere! But I figured that I'd check his dorm first, even though I was pretty sure that he wouldn't be there because it was just way too obvious.

Just as I was about to set off for the Moroi dorms, though, I felt my phone vibrating in my pocket. Pulling it out, I checked the caller ID; it was Daisy. I frowned, wondering what she could want, and then answered, ducking behind a statue in case any senior guardians came along while I was on the phone.

"Hello?" I asked quietly.

"Hello! Evie? Hello!" came Daisy's voice, but I could barely hear her; loud music was playing in the background and I could hear people shouting over it. "Evie! Are you there? It's me, Daisy!"

I backed up behind the statue even more and crouched down. "I'm here," I replied quietly. "What's up?"

"Hold on!" she yelled down the phone at me. "I can't hear you! Just hold on!" The line crackled slightly and moments later the music and voices in the background disappeared. "Are you still there, Evie?" Daisy asked, coming back onto the phone.

"Yeah, I'm still here. What's going on?"

"Andre's get a few people in his dorm and they're getting a little crazy," she told me. I rolled my eyes; no surprises there, then. "And I thought I should ring you because Adrian's here," she added.

I almost dropped my phone. "He – _what_?" I exclaimed angrily.

"Adrian's here," she repeated. "Look, I don't think he's going anywhere right now but if he does, I can't stop him." A thoughtful pause. "I can't stop him, can I?"

"No, you can't," I managed to get out before straightening up. "Okay, you keep an eye on him. If he tries to leave, let me know."

"I will. Just hurry."

"That's the plan."

I hung up and then threw my phone at the wall in temper. It was stupid, I know that, but I was just so angry. How could he do this? How could he endanger my future just so he could go and get drunk with his stupid Moroi friends? I knew in that moment that I had been right all along; he really was an arrogant, womanizing, chain-smoking, boozing jackass, and that would never change. I just couldn't believe that I had been stupid enough to think that maybe he could prove me wrong.

Pushing that to the back of my mind, though, I tried to figure out how I was going to get to Andre's dorm. The Moroi dorms were on the other side of campus and even if I did manage to get there without being spotted, it was going to be difficult sneaking into the actual building because there would be a doorman on duty. Sure, there was a chance that I could pull it off but it was an extremely slim chance. I had to try, though, so I set off across campus, sticking to the shadows as I went.

I had a couple of close calls as I made my way through the school grounds but I made it there without getting caught out by any senior guardians. At first, I figured that it was plain old good luck. I mean, it wasn't like I didn't deserve a little luck, for crying out loud. Apparently, though, I wasn't going to get anymore because just as I was stepping out of the shadows, the Moroi dorms in sight, none other than Alberta and Stan appeared out of nowhere. I froze for a moment, sure that they had seen me, and that was when somebody pulled me back into the shadows.

Whirling around, I came face-to-face with Gwen; she was leant against the wall, watching me with an amused expression on her face.

"What?" I snapped irritably.

"I think the word you're looking for is 'thanks'," she shrugged.

Shaking my head, I claimed the space of wall next to her and leant against it, sighing heavily. Stan and Alberta were still stood in front of the Moroi dorms, making my mission to get to Andre's dorm impossible, and with every second that passed, I got more and more wound up.

Eventually, I snapped. "What the hell is taking them so long?" I exclaimed angrily, gesturing wildly at the senior guardians even though Gwen undoubtedly knew who I was talking about.

"They're probably planning another attack," Gwen replied matter-of-factly as she pulled a bottle of blood out of her jacket and took a sip.

"I don't care! I need to get into the Moroi dorms!"

She rolled her eyes at me. "Pipe down, Parker, or you're going to give us up."

"Us?"

"Yeah, us. I don't hang out in the shadows for fun, you know," she said pointedly.

I turned away from her and muttered, "Could've fooled me."

I half-expected her to snap something back at me but she didn't. Instead, we lapsed back into silence and waited for Alberta and Stan to move on.

Ten minutes later and we were still waiting.

"Why do you need to get into the Moroi dorms, anyway?" Gwen asked suddenly.

I turned to look at her and as much as it killed me to admit it, I said, "Adrian gave me the slip in the library."

I had thought that Gwen would laugh but like before, her whole attitude changed and she looked genuinely worried. Even though I had more urgent matters to attend to, I couldn't help but wonder why she always seemed so anxious whenever I mentioned Adrian. Before I got the chance to ask her, though, she caught herself again and straightened up, her attitude falling back into place.

"A Moroi gave you the slip?" she asked, a sly grin spreading across her face.

I glared at her. "My whole future's hanging in the balance and all you can do is make a joke out of it?" I drew up to my full height and folded my arms across my chest. "God, it's no wonder that you don't have any friends."

The words were harsh even for me and for a split-second, Gwen actually looked hurt; her eyes widened and she bit on her bottom lip. Seeing that reminded me of the girl she'd been before she'd left St. Vladimir's and I felt seriously guilty for saying something so cruel.

"Gwen," I said, stepping forward and reaching out for her. "Gwen, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have said that."

She backed away from me, her expression hard, and I really wouldn't have been surprised if she'd have given me up to Alberta and Stan without a seconds hesitation. But she didn't. In fact, she did the last thing that I had expected.

Something behind me exploded. I spun on the spot, searching for the source of the noise, and found that a water pipe above Alberta and Stan had exploded. They both jumped as its contents splashed down onto them and after exchanging a few angry words about maintenance, they left.

I turned back to Gwen, suitably impressed, and said innocently, "I'm guessing you specialized in water, right?"

She gave me a wry smile. "Maybe." I smiled back at her and tried to think of a way to apologize and thank her at the same time. Before I could, though, she said, "Haven't you got a Moroi to find?"

"Yeah, I guess so," I replied.

"Then what are you waiting for? Get going before he does another disappearing act."

I nodded and made to turn away but before I could leave, I knew that I had to say thanks. Well, she'd just saved my ass, even though I'd been a bitch to her, so it was the least she deserved.

"Hey, Gwen," I started, turning back around, but when I did, she'd already gone. "Thanks," I finished quietly before setting off across the courtyard.

I made it to the Moroi dorms without any more problems but when I got there, I ran into my final obstacle; just like I'd expected, the lobby was being guarded by a doorman, and for a few minutes, I tried to figure out how to get past him. I could have rung Daisy and asked if she'd come and distract him but I needed her to keep an eye on Adrian so I couldn't do that. Stepping backwards, I glanced up at the building; I could have climbed in through a window on the second floor but I'd be exposing myself then and the chances of getting caught were too high to risk it. Even though I hated to admit defeat, it really looked like I was going to fall at the final hurdle.

And then, just as I was about to give in, the doorman got to his feet and headed towards the bathroom. I stared after him suspiciously, wondering if it was a trick, but when the door swung shut behind him, I figured it was now or never and bolted through the lobby.

Once I'd made it up the stairs, I breathed a sigh of relief. I'd done it. I'd actually done it. Okay, granted that I'd had a little help from Gwen and Mother Nature, but I'd still pulled it off. Checking that I was alone first, I grinned like an idiot and danced around the hallway in victory.

That done, I pulled myself together and remembered that I still had to find Andre's dorm room. It wasn't that hard, really; all I had to do was follow the sound of the loud, thumping music that was blaring out from the third floor.

I found Andre's dorm without any further problems. A few Moroi were clustered around the doorway and I noticed that Finn and Julian were amongst them.

"Hey, Evie," Finn said as I approached him. I nodded and asked if he'd seen Adrian. "He's inside somewhere," he told me before leaning in and adding, "and he's a little drunk."

I gritted my teeth. "A little?"

"A lot," Finn admitted.

"Great," I sighed heavily. "That's just great."

Julian stepped in then, a smirk on his face. "If it isn't Evie Parker," he grinned, his dark blue eyes gleaming as he gave me the once-over, his gaze stopping when it landed on my chest. "You're not here to ruin our fun, are you?" he asked.

"My face is up here," I snapped at him. Finn laughed but managed to turn it into a cough at the last second. "And no, I'm not here to ruin your fun," I said as I pushed past him. "I'm here to ruin Adrian's fun."

I had thought that would put an end to Julian's leering but as I swept by him, he caught my wrist and pulled me back. "Why are you in such a hurry?" he asked. "Why don't you stay out here and have a drink before you go barging in there?"

"And why the hell would I do that?" I demanded, pulling my wrist out of his grasp.

He met my gaze levelly and said, "Because I want you to stay. Come on, just for a little while." And as he stared into my eyes, I suddenly thought that it wasn't such a bad idea. Maybe I could stay for a few minutes. Or maybe an hour or something. I mean, Julian wasn't so bad, was he? He was seriously good looking, after all, and he had such gorgeous, dark blue eyes…

"Dude, that's not cool," I heard Finn say angrily before he turned to me. "Evie, snap out of it," he said, waving his hands in front of my eyes. "Evie, he's using compulsion on you."

I shook my head and smiled. "It's fine, Finn," I told him. "I want to stay."

"You heard her, Armstrong," Julian said as he draped an arm around my shoulders. "She wants to stay. Now do as you're told and keep out of it like a good little guardian."

For a second, it really did look like Finn was going to back down. He shook his head and looked away, his expression tormented… and then he pulled me out from underneath Julian's arm and shoved him into the wall. The other Moroi around us gasped in outrage but Finn let it bounce off of him. Instead, he turned to me and said, "Are you okay, Evie?"

I nodded but before I could begin to dwell on what might have happened if Finn hadn't been around, I flew at Julian. I'd been through enough already and him playing stupid mind-control games on me was just the last straw.

His eyes widened as I came at him but he didn't back down. He didn't even flinch when I grabbed him by the collar and threw him back at the wall.

"I didn't think that you'd like it rough, Evie," he laughed before turning to Finn. "You're in for it, Armstrong," he said. "Attacking a royal Moroi? You might as well kiss you career as a guardian goodbye."

"Leave him out of this," I snarled. "You have no right – _no right_ – to use compulsion on me! To use it on anyone! Do you understand, Zeklos?"

He grinned at me, showing off a mouthful of pearly white teeth and fangs. "I don't see what your problem is, Parker," he said. "It's not like you weren't enjoying yourself. And I can tell you that if we hadn't have been interrupted, you'd have enjoyed yourself a whole lot more."

Something about the way he said that made my skin crawl and I dropped him immediately. "You don't know anything about me," I said as I stepped away from him. "Not a damn thing."

"Maybe not," he shrugged. "But I know what all you Dhampir girls enjoy." He paused then and reached out to run his fingers across my cheek; I cringed away from him. "Especially you Parker women," he finished, his voice thick with implications. Even though I tried to hide it, I felt myself blushing and when I glanced at Finn, I couldn't help but think back to the conversation we'd had in Art. He'd said that Julian talked about Dhampir girls and even though he hadn't elaborated, I suddenly knew which Dhampir girls in particular that Julian had been talking about.

"That's out of line, Zeklos," Finn said angrily before making to dive at Julian again. I managed to stop him just in time, even though I wouldn't have minded seeing him beat Julian into a pulp. But I knew that Finn would regret it if he did that; the Zeklos family had enough power and influence to see to that.

"He isn't worth it," I said as I glared at Julian who was watching with a smirk on his face. "I don't know why you're smiling, Zeklos," I snapped. "You'll get what's coming to you one day, you know."

"Not before you get what's coming to you," he replied before grinning at me and disappearing into Andre's room, the other Moroi following him. I stared after him, wondering what he'd meant by that, but shook my head and turned back to Finn.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly as I dropped my hold on him.

"Yeah," he replied. "It's just – God, I hate that guy!"

"You and me both," I replied grimly before sighing heavily. "I don't suppose you'd want to help me hunt down another asshole? Goes by the name of Adrian Ivashkov?"

Finn shook his head. "I would but I don't think it's such a good idea. If I go in there now and run into Julian…" He trailed off but I knew exactly how that sentence would have ended.

After thanking him and saying goodbye, I reluctantly headed into Andre's room. It was absolutely heaving with Moroi and even though most of them were royal, I noticed a few non-royals amongst the crowds, too. They were the polite ones, the ones who moved out of the way when I tried to get by them and called out hello's as I passed. As for the royals… well, I had to shove a few of them out of my path and swear at even more of them when they refused to budge.

By the time I found Adrian, I was furious; the combination of my run-in with Julian and the confrontations with royal Moroi had really wound me up and I wanted nothing more than to scream at Adrian until his ears bled. If he could even hear me over the thumping music, anyway.

When he saw me approaching, though, he didn't seem to notice how pissed off I was. "Evie!" he exclaimed happily, getting to his feet and sauntering across to me. "What are you doing here? I thought you were with your friends."

"I was," I said sarcastically as my temper flared up, "until you decided to disappear without telling me where you were going."

His green eyes widened in surprise. "I thought you wanted to see them. I didn't think you'd want to come here with me."

I stared at him in complete and utter disbelief. Did he actually think that he'd done me a favour by leaving me with Erin and Dimitri? Did he actually believe that he'd done the right thing? Judging from his innocent expression, he did.

A splash of red blurred my vision and I lost it. "You fucking idiot!" I screamed at him before I could stop myself. The Moroi closest to us looked around, obviously startled by my outburst, but I didn't stop. "You absolute asshole! You nearly ruined my future!"

Adrian stared at me, his smile vanishing, and he actually looked ashamed of himself. "Evie, I didn't think," he said, reaching out for me. Like Gwen had with me, I stepped backwards. "Please, don't be mad. You're here now. Nobody ever has to know."

"That isn't the point!" I yelled. "You disappeared without giving me a second thought! You didn't even think about the fact that you was throwing my future away!"

More than a few Moroi had turned around to watch now but I didn't care. Behind Adrian, I could see Daisy shaking her head violently at me, silently telling me to leave it, but I ignored her and turned back to Adrian.

"Please, Evie, can't we talk about this?" Adrian asked quietly, reaching out for me again.

This time I swiped his hand away. "No, we can't talk about it. There's nothing to talk about. Just get your things together and get back to your dorm." When he didn't move, I screamed at him again. "_Now_!"

I hadn't noticed that the music had stopped. I barely noticed that every Moroi in the room was staring at me. None of it mattered. The only thing that did matter was getting Adrian back to his dorm before I really flipped out and punched him. And I didn't doubt that it would come to that if he refused to leave; I could hear blood pumping in my ears and I could feel my heart beating furiously, two tell-tale signs that I was about to lash out. Sure, punching Adrian might have felt good but it wouldn't do me any favours in the long-run.

"Let's go," Adrian eventually said, his gaze downcast as he stepped towards me. "I think I'm ready to go to sleep now."

I didn't say anything to that. I didn't even look at him. Instead, I turned on my heel and stalked out of the room, Adrian trailing after me as every Moroi in the room turned around to watch us leave.

Talk about a walk of shame.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews or comments? Or anything? Knock yourselves out :) Chapter Five is on its way with plenty of Evie, a lot of Erin & Dimitri, & a little Adrian. Will Adrian try and make it up to Evie? More importantly, will Evie hear him out? And how will Evie, Erin and Dimitri spend their first field-experience free day? Answers are coming soon :)**


	5. Chapter 5: Omen

**Chapter Five: Omen**

**A/N: I disclaim, etc, blah, blah, blah :)**

**Anyway, Chapter Five: Evie got Adrian back to his dorm safe-and-sound but that doesn't mean that all's forgotten. Will Evie forgive Adrian for being such a pain in the ass? Will she get together with Erin and Dimitri on her first day-off to rant about her assigned Moroi? And – just a little reference to the actual VA books – how did Dimitri's obsession with leather dusters begin? ( I don't know if this is how it actually did begin but I thought it would be fun to improvise :) ) Read on :) & review :) Enjoy!**

* * *

The first week of field-experience dragged by. And when I say dragged, I mean that sometimes it felt like time was standing still.

After that first night, I went through all the motions of being a good guardian; I went where Adrian went, put his needs ahead of my own, and I protected him when the senior guardians attacked. Basically, I kept things strictly professional. I didn't talk to him and I only acknowledged him when I absolutely had to. If he asked me a question, I answered with a nod or shake of my head, and if he looked at me, I turned the other way. Even though he tried to shrug it off at first, it eventually drove him crazy.

"Why won't you talk to me?" he asked for what felt like the millionth time, his voice taking on that whining, pleading tone that had been developing all damn week.

It was Saturday night and we were sat in his dorm room. I'd thought that he'd want to go round to Andre's but he'd decided that he wanted to stay in for a change, a decision that irritated the hell out of me. Sure, I didn't want to spend my Saturday night with a bunch of drunken royal Moroi but at least if I did that, Adrian would be too distracted by his friends to try and apologize to me. But things hadn't worked out like that so for the time being I had his undivided attention. Great.

I didn't answer his question, though. Instead, I stared straight ahead, my arms folded across my chest.

"Evie, please," he said, sighing heavily. "I've told you that I'm sorry."

And he had. He'd said that he was sorry a lot. When we'd got back from Andre's dorm that night, he hadn't spoken to me at all which was probably a good decision; if he had tried to apologize straight away, I would have flipped out and things would have gotten ugly. But the next morning, 'I'm so sorry' was the first thing he said. And what had I done? I'd shrugged and left the room. Okay, I was doling out the silent treatment but he deserved it. He'd nearly messed up my entire future, after all, and that wasn't something I was going to forget in a hurry.

Adrian wasn't getting that, though, and after two days of apologizing endlessly, he tried a different approach. It started off small; an 'I'm Sorry' card and a box of chocolates. It was a nice gesture, I guess, but it didn't weaken my resolve to stay mad at him. The card remained unopened and I gave the chocolates to Erin and Dimitri. It still didn't stop Adrian sending me things, though. The next day, I woke up to find two dozen long-stemmed, multi-colored roses with an 'I'm Sorry' card on my bedside table. And the day after that, I found a Tiffany box on the end of my bed. I didn't even open that one because I knew I'd be impressed by what he bought me and I didn't want that.

I had to give it to him; he definitely didn't give up easily. The problem there was that the more he persisted, the more I resisted. It was a stalemate, alright.

"Evie, please," he repeated, this time getting to his feet and walking across to me. Maybe he thought that if he got close enough to me, I wouldn't be able to ignore him. He was totally wrong, of course, but I didn't tell him that. "How many times do I have to say it?" he asked, drawing up in front of me. "I'm sorry, okay? I was an asshole."

I yawned and checked my watch; it was 11:30 p.m. Only half an hour to go and then I could leave. Well, Sunday was my day off and, technically, Sunday started at midnight.

Adrian still wasn't giving up. "I mean, what else can I do?" he asked. "I've said I'm sorry. I've sent you presents. I haven't had a drink since Monday night." He ran his hands through his hair despairingly. "Not one drink. Not even a pick-me-up."

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes when he said that. As if to prove how truly sorry he was, Adrian had stopped drinking. No, _seriously_. Since that night in Andre's dorm, I hadn't seen him drink once and it was starting to take its toll on him; he was on edge a lot of the time and he kept getting this wild, out of control look in his eyes. I guessed that the combination of my silent treatment and his alcohol withdrawal was really getting to him. But whatever. It wasn't my problem.

"And look," he exclaimed, crossing over to his bedside table and rifling through the drawers. "I drew this for you. I thought you'd like it."

He hurried back across to me and waved a piece of paper in front of my eyes; it was a drawing of me, Erin and Dimitri, one that he'd obviously drawn from memory of us sat in the library. Like his night-sky painting, it was something else, perfect down to the last detail, but I couldn't bring myself to tell him how talented he was again. I mean, look what happened the last time I'd weakened. He'd gone and acted like an ass and I'd ended up feeling stupid for thinking he could change. I wasn't going to let that happen again.

And so it went on like that until midnight, him telling me how sorry he was and me ignoring him. In the end, I stalked into the bathroom to get away from him and his increasingly erratic behavior. I mean, I could handle him but when he was getting all manic and crazy, it really got to me. And, if I'm being honest, I could feel myself weakening. Some part of me knew that he obviously was sorry for what he'd done. I guessed that was my problem; no matter how many times people let me down, I still wanted to believe the best in them. I couldn't carry on like that, though, because if I did, I would always end up getting hurt.

At 11:59 p.m., I opened the bathroom door and stepped into the bedroom; Adrian was laid out on his bed, staring up at the ceiling blankly. The drawing of me, Erin and Dimitri was now on my pillow and I couldn't help but glance at it as I picked my bag up. It really was brilliant and if I could find away to accept it without Adrian finding out, I would. But for now I had to leave it behind and get going. I had asked Erin if I could sleep in her dorm and she'd agreed, promising that her and Dimitri would wait up for me. I didn't want to keep them waiting anymore so after slinging my bag over my shoulder, I headed for the door.

When I grasped the handle, though, Adrian said quietly, "Evie."

I didn't want to stop. I didn't even want to pause. But for some reason I did.

"Please stay," he said and for a split-second, he sounded like some lonely little kid. "Don't leave. Please."

I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. _Don't even think about it_, I told myself sternly. _Just go. This is his own fault_.

The door slammed shut behind me as I left without looking back at him.

* * *

True to her word, Erin and Dimitri had waited up for me.

When I made it to her dorm, I knocked on the door and waited. Seconds later, Erin and Dimitri materialized in front of me, both of them grinning from ear-to-ear. For a moment, the three of us considered each other. And then, without any warning, the two of them dove on me.

"Whoa!" I laughed as someone's arm went around my shoulders and someone else's arm went around my waist. "You missed me that much, huh?"

"Of course we missed you," Erin exclaimed.

Dimitri nodded in agreement. "We came this close to kidnapping you," he told me and I couldn't help but laugh at that, mostly because I could actually imagine him bursting into Adrian's room and hauling me away. Not that he would have needed to haul me away; I would have gone willingly.

But I wasn't going to get all hung up on how crappy things had been lately. It wouldn't be fair on Erin and Dimitri and, anyway, brooding had never appealed to me before so I sure as hell wasn't going to jump on the bandwagon now.

"So, come on," I grinned as I flopped down on Erin's bed, "tell me what I've missed out on? But spare me the details if you nearly killed another guardian."

And just like that things were back to normal. Erin bounced onto the bed beside me and Dimitri sprawled out across the floor and for a while, I forgot all about Adrian Ivashkov; I was too engrossed in listening to how my two best friends had spent the past week without me to give him a second thought. It was almost a relief, not having to think about his safety for a change. Until I remembered how dejected he had sounded when I left, that is. I couldn't help but tense up when I remembered that and Dimitri, being the perceptive guy he was, noticed.

"Are you okay, Evie?" he asked quietly, propping himself up on his elbows so he could look up at me and Erin properly. "You look like how every senior on campus feels."

I laughed. "I know, right? Everybody looks so wound up lately." I paused and then said, "I guess it's field-experience taking its toll. Everybody's taking it seriously."

"Tell me about it!" Erin exclaimed, turning to me as she said, "Do you know how many times I've been thrown around and manhandled? Way too many to count."

"It's like the revenge of the novices, alright," I grinned. "Time to show all you Moroi how big and bad we really are."

Erin rolled her eyes at me and laughed but Dimitri suddenly looked thoughtful. "You okay down there, John Wayne?" I asked him, my tone teasing

"Very funny, Evie," he said sarcastically. "I don't like John Wayne and I don't particularly like western films." I eyed the stack of Louis L'Amour books on the bedside table speculatively. "Films and books are two entirely different things," he said, causing me and Erin to burst out laughing.

"Way to sound prehistoric, John," Erin managed to get out through her giggles which made us laugh even more. Dimitri shook his head at us despairingly but grinned anyway and waited until we finally calmed down enough to continue with our conversation.

"So, what was with the serious expression?" I finally asked.

He shrugged off-handedly. "Just, you know, speaking of Moroi and big and bad," he said, "has anybody else noticed that Gwen Dobrev has been hanging out a lot more lately? Like, where people can actually see her for a change?"

I stared at him in surprise and beside me, I felt Erin shudder slightly. "That girl creeps me out," she told us. "The way she's always lurking in the shadows and carrying around that bottle of blood…" She trailed off and shook her head. "It's not normal for a Moroi to do that. Drink blood from a bottle, I mean."

"I thought you guys liked your blood warm?" Dimitri asked her.

"We _do_," she replied. "That's what makes it so weird."

Without even thinking about it, I blurted out, "Actually, she warms it up. She doesn't drink it cold."

They both turned to stare at me, their shocked expressions identical. "How do you know that she warms it up?" Erin asked.

"She told me," I said. "I kind of bumped into her and we got talking."

Now they didn't just look shocked; they looked downright gob smacked. I could understand why, of course. Gwen was the most anti-social person at St. Vladimir's and that wasn't putting it lightly. Hell, I had been surprised when she had spoken to me so I figured that Erin and Dimitri were entitled to their own fair share of shock-horror.

"You actually spoke to her?" Dimitri asked quietly. I nodded, rolling my eyes; it was like I'd just told them I'd spoken to God. Or, on second-thoughts, the Devil. "As in, you actually had a conversation with her? She didn't just tell you to piss off?"

"Hey, she spoke to me," I said indignantly, "so if anyone was going to be saying 'piss off', it would have been me."

He whistled lowly and leant backwards. "Well, there's something that doesn't happen every day."

I nodded in a tell-me-about it kind of way and I felt Erin shudder again. "I don't know how you could talk to her, Evie," she said. "She's just so… _intimidating_. And those eyes" – she flinched just thinking about them –"are just downright freaky. It's like she knows all of your secrets or something."

"She actually isn't that bad, you know," I found myself saying as I remembered how she had helped me out with Stan and Alberta. Sure, she was a little creepy, what with all the hiding in the shadows and watching from the sidelines thing, but deep down, I was sure that she was still the same old Gwen. Well, deep, _deep_ down, anyway; the bottle of blood thing was seriously weird, after all.

"Maybe not," Dimitri said matter-of-factly, "and I'm willing to bet that while she was in Russia, she went through a tough time." Even Erin nodded in agreement to that. "But recently, the way she's been watching things…" He paused, looking for the right words. "It's like she's waiting for something."

The three of us lapsed into silence when he said that, almost like we were kids who had just been telling ghost stories and now we were actually getting freaked out by them. It was stupid, I know, but Gwen just had something about her that made people feel uneasy, even if they were just talking about her.

"Anyway," Erin said brightly in an attempt to lighten the suddenly intense mood, "how about we watch something?" She turned to me, a mischievous grin on her face. "We raided your dorm room yesterday and we came across your not-so secret stash of Buffy the Vampire Slayer DVD's."

"And you take the mick out of me for reading western's," Dimitri said loftily.

I rolled my eyes. "Hey, Buffy is a total icon and it's not like I watch it for fun. It's research." Which was a total lie, obviously, but I wasn't going to admit to that.

"Yeah, because killing Strigoi is going to be as easy as that show makes it out to be," he replied, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

"Oh, shut up, John," I snapped and once again, the three of us collapsed into a laughing fit.

We ended up sticking on Season Five and even though Dimitri was a little reserved at first, by the end of the Buffy vs. Dracula episode, he was really getting into it. Seriously, watching his expression was more entertaining than watching the actual screen at times and at one point, he actually sighed longingly.

"Someone's in love with Buffy," I teased.

"Not her," he replied, nodding at the screen; it showed Buffy talking to Spike and for a moment, I honestly got a little worried. "His jacket," he said and it suddenly all made sense; he liked the leather duster Spike was wearing.

"I'll get you one for Christmas if you like," I said, hiding a yawn behind my hand, "but you have to wear it."

"If you get me a jacket like that, I'll still be wearing it when I'm an old man," he grinned.

We managed to make it through an admirable amount of disks before admitting defeat and crawling into bed. While Dimitri took the spare one, I crawled in beside Erin and the two of us top-and-tailed, something we hadn't done in years. Normally, the lack of space irritated me but I was so tired that before I'd even started to think about how cramped it was, I had fallen into a deep sleep. It was a little weird at first because something about me felt on edge and even though I wasn't awake, some part of my brain was adamant that something wasn't right. I must have gotten over it in the end, though, because before I knew it, Erin was pulling the duvet off of me, saying something about the three of us over-sleeping.

A little lethargically, we got cleaned up and ventured outside; it was midday and campus was crawling with Moroi and Dhampir's, all of them going somewhere or doing something. Not us, though. After going to the dining hall so I could have my caffeine fix and Erin could visit the feeders, we threw a load of food into a bag and headed back to the dorm so we could watch more Buffy episodes. It was the perfect way to spend my first day-off really; good friends, good food, and kick-ass shows. But, for some reason, I felt anxious, and it wasn't just because I knew I'd have to go back to Adrian's dorm in a matter of hours. It was something else, something I couldn't quite out my finger on. I shrugged it off in the end, though, and tried to concentrate on enjoying my last few hours of freedom.

"I'll admit it," Dimitri declared as last credits rolled. "I've been deprived."

Erin and I managed watery laughs; well, Buffy had just died and I would have been disappointed in us both if we had failed to cry. "What, of Spike's awesome Billy Idol look?" I grinned, wiping at my eyes.

"Of the jacket, yes," he laughed, "but it was actually pretty impressive."

"We'll go back and steal the other seasons for you," Erin smiled, winking at me.

I shook my head. "Don't encourage him," I told her jokingly. "We'll create a monster, I can see it now."

"And speaking of monsters," she said, "don't you have a certain Moroi monster of your own that you need to be getting back to?"

"_Shhh_! If you don't say it then it won't be true!"

Her and Dimitri rolled their eyes at me but, grudgingly, I started to get my things together. It was a slow process, mostly because I was stalling for extra time away from Adrian, but the more I thought about seeing him again, the more anxious and worked up I got. And it wasn't in the usual I'm-going-to-punch-him-if-he-acts-like-an-asshole way. I actually felt a little worried about him, though God only knows why. He'd probably just got drunk in my absence, anyway.

As much as I wanted to believe that, though, my goodbyes to Erin and Dimitri were cut short so I could get back to his dorm as quickly as possible.

"If I don't see you during the week, I'll see you next Sunday," I told them as I headed for the door.

"Same time, same place?" Erin asked.

"With more DVD's," Dimitri added.

I smiled back at them. "Sounds like a plan."

And with that said, I set off towards Adrian's dorm. I honestly didn't know why I was so desperate to check-up on him but the closer I got to his building, the more nervous I felt. It was like somebody had flipped a switch in my brain; only twenty-four hours ago I'd been pissed off at him and now I suddenly felt like I was responsible for him or something. Which was totally crazy. I mean, I wasn't his mother. Why should I give a damn about what had happened to him since I'd been gone? I shouldn't. But I did and I wanted to punch myself for it.

I was so focused on getting to his dorm that I didn't even really notice Gwen stood in the shadows. Some part of my mind registered that it was her and that same part remembered what Dimitri had said about her. That she was waiting for something. And as I passed her, catching her restless expression, I realized that he was right. She was waiting for something… whatever that 'something' was. But I didn't have time for that right now. Right now, I had to get to Adrian.

I charged into his building and tore through the lobby, earning lots of sideways glances from Moroi who I passed on the way. They probably thought I was going to beat Adrian up or something. Well, lots of people had seen me yelling at him in Andre's dorm so it was to be expected, I guess. That didn't mean it didn't irritate me, though, especially when they were blocking my path because they were too busy staring at me.

"Can you get out of the damn way?" I yelled at two Moroi in particular who had stopped for a chat on the stairs, making it impossible for me to get by them.

"God, who died and made you queen, Parker," one of them muttered as they moved aside and I barged past them. I didn't even bother to glare at them in response to that.

It felt like the longest journey I had ever made, even though it had only taken five minutes, and as I came to a halt outside of Adrian's dorm, I drew in a deep breath; the knot of unease in my stomach had gotten tighter and tighter since I'd left Erin's room and now it felt like it was going to explode. _Then why are you stalling_? I asked myself. _Get the hell in there already_.

So, after taking another deep breath, I threw the door open and stepped inside.

* * *

**A/N: Reviews? Please :) Chapter Six is currently in progress and characters will include Evie & Adrian, Daisy & Andre, Finn & Julian, and Gwen. So… Did Evie get all worked up about Adrian for nothing? Will Julian still be making Finn's life difficult? And why has Gwen taken such an interest in Adrian? Answers in the next chapter :)**

**Oh, and as for the Spike-thing… I just love him :) And the whole leather-duster thing was just my way or bringing him into the story :)**


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